Fox announces its 2013-14 primetime lineup

It looks like ol’ Uncle Rupert is opening up the vault… Fox released its 2013-14 season slate Monday morning ahead of its upfront presentation later in the day, and announced nine new series consisting of five new comedies and four new dramas – not to mention a form of television that hasn’t been mentioned in ages: the mini-series (a.k.a. “limited […]

The best and worst TV in 2012

Instead of the usual pictures of trophies and toilets, this year yours truly is combining the two lists of the Best and Worst TV shows for 2012 into one convenient handy post (and because of time constraints.) So here we go – counting down the best shows of the year and counting up the worst: Excellent 10: 10. The Voice […]

The 2012 T Dog Media Turkey Awards

Get the cranberry sauce ready: it’s time for the 7th annual T Dog Media Turkey Awards where every Thanksgiving, yours truly honors the worst in the media business for the year and 2012 is filled with so many media turkeys! Without further ado, here are this year’s, um… “winners”: Animal Practice. Premiering after the Summer Olympics (or more aptly put, […]

Mike Renda out at WFLD; Dennis Welsh in

In the 27 years yours truly has followed the media business, I’ve never encountered anyone who is arrogant, incompetent, and stupid – aside from Randy “Court Jester” Michaels and his minions – in running a radio or TV station as Fox-owned WFLD and WPWR General Manager Mike Renda. On Friday, Fox management – which is proven to be every bit […]

T Dog’s Think Tank: Four-for-one special

It’s a four-for-one-special in this edition of T Dog’s Think Tank – thoughts on four subjects in one post. What a deal! – Is Fox’s incompetence at its local Chicago stations spreading to the network? Last week, the network scheduled X Factor to Wednesday, but game three of the NLCS between San Francisco and St. Louis (which started earlier in […]

More Grab Bag: RIP Alex Karras; CBS cancels “Made in Jersey”

– Alex Karras, the Detroit Lions defensive lineman-turned-actor, died Wednesday at his Southern California home  at the age of 77 due to complications from kidney failure. The Gary, Ind. native played his entire NFL career with the Lions from 1958-70, then went into television and film, including a stint with WLS-TV for a local Monday Night Football pregame show and […]

Bears rule Monday night – in the ratings and on the field

The Bears ruled Monday night. Rinse. Lather. Repeat. The Chicago Bears and Dallas Cowboys were featured on ESPN’s Monday Night Football and drew the largest audience of the season with 16.6 million viewers, a 12.3 household rating, and a whopping 6.8 rating among adults 18-49, topping all competition – broadcast or cable. The Bears – led by quarterback Jay Cutler […]

NBC beats broadcast competition in first night of new season

ESPN tops all broadcast and cable networks with Monday Night Football – and a unbelievable bad call to end the game The first night of the 2012-13 season got underway Monday night, but someone forgot to tell the viewers. Looking at the results, a lot of returning programs were down from year-ago time periods, notably Dancing With The Stars and […]

“Revolution” off to good start; “Mob Doctor” tanks

Trisha also debuts in daytime; Bill Cunningham rolls out nationally Even though the “official” start of the new season doesn’t begin until next week, two new primetime series made their debut Monday night: J.J. Abrams’ Revolution and Fox’s Mob Doctor. Revolution got off to a good start, drawing a 4.1 Nielsen adult demo (18-49) rating and 11.7 million viewers, retaining […]

Fox at TCA: Mariah Carey joins “American Idol” as a judge

Fox became the first broadcast network to hold their presentation at the Television Critics Association Press Tour on Monday, with panels on Fox’s three new shows, a X Factor press conference, and an introduction of a new judge on American Idol. – Fox executive session: Entertainment chief Kevin Reilly met the press on Monday and revealed that Mariah Carey will […]

Fox’s 2012-13 schedule

Fox unveiled its prime time campaign for the 2012-13 season Monday morning, in advance of the network’s upfront presentation later in the afternoon. The biggest move coming out of this schedule is the relocation of Glee from Tuesday to Thursday night to make room for a live-action sitcom block. Fox’s 2012-13 schedule, which is surprisingly skimp on new programming, sees […]